Mr Ali Al-Hussaini

Mr Al-Hussaini is a Consultant ENT Surgeon at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. He qualified in 2009 with Distinctions in Basic Sciences and Clinical Practice from Imperial College London. He has undertaken all of his surgical training in the United Kingdom and was a specialist registrar on the All Wales ENT training programme.

He has a wide range of clinical expertise and is fully proficient in all aspects of Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery with a specialist interest in Paediatric ENT surgery. He has expertise in snoring, swallowing and voice disorders, and has delivered international Keynote Lectures on these topics at the ENT World Congress (Paris, 2017). He is passionate about promoting excellence in rhinoplasty and pinnaplasty surgery and is also an expert in non-surgical rhinoplasty.

Mr Al-Hussaini has acquired multiple prominent awards including The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Surgeon in Training Medal in 2011 and The International ENT Masterclass Gold Medal in 2017. He was awarded the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons of England Surgical Research Fellowship in 2016 for pioneering research on immune responses to head and neck cancer. To date, he has been awarded over £125,000 research funding.

Mr Al-Hussaini is one of the principal ENT collaborators for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board's "Healthcare Pathways" project on referrals from primary to secondary care. He is responsible for co-authoring and working with colleagues from primary care to develop, review and publish a multitude of online evidence-based clinical pathways, to help with assessment, management and specialist request decisions. He has also contributed to establishing and evaluating the "Patient Knows Best" Paediatric Tracheostomy online system in the clinical care and management of paediatric patients with established tracheostomies within a large geographical area of South Wales.

Mr Al-Hussaini is Section Editor for Current Otorhinolaryngology Reports (Springer US) and this role has developed his strong international reputation and collaborations with ENT Surgeons worldwide. In addition, he is a reviewer for multiple journals including Clinical Otolaryngology and Journal of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

Mr Al-Hussaini has various special clinical interests. These include:

•    Adult and Children’s ENT
•    Glue ear
•    Hearing loss, tinnitus and dizziness
•    Ear pinning surgery (pinnaplasty)
•    Ear infections
•    Nasal obstruction/ Snoring/ Sleep Apnoea
•    Nose bleeds
•    Facial pain
•    Surgical and non-surgical rhinoplasty
•    Sinusitis/ endoscopic sinus surgery
•    Throat symptoms
•    Recurrent tonsillitis
•    Swallowing disorders
•    Voice disorders

Mr Al-Hussaini is extremely passionate about high-quality research with the fundamental belief that excellence in research directly leads to better care and outcomes for patients.

He remains very active in pursuing research including basic science and clinical research with 34 peer-reviewed publications to date and a strong international ENT research portfolio. He is the Research and Development Lead for the ENT Department at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. He has a wide array of research interests and collaborations with world-class units that include pioneering work with Cardiff University on how the immune system interacts with head and neck cancer, and how this could inform novel treatments. 

Mr Al-Hussaini has multiple international keynote lectures and received multiple awards and grants for outstanding research including the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons of England Saven Research and Development Grant.

He is the Principal Investigator for multiple clinical studies including the National Airway Intervention Registry and the OptiNose 3205 study, an international multi-centre randomised controlled trial assessing the efficacy of a novel nasal spray system in chronic rhinosinusitis.

FRCS (ORL-HNS) DOHNS MSc Med Ed. MBBS BSc (Hons)

Year of first medical qualification: 2009

•    Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons of England
•    British Association of Paediatric Otolaryngology
•    ENT Wales

Mr Al-Hussaini is happily married to Farah and has been for 12 years. They have two children.  

Mr Al-Hussaini enjoys running and undertook the London Marathon in 2016 to raise money for The Royal College of Surgeons of England Surgical Research Fund.

He is also a keen tennis player.

Consultant ENT Surgeon, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.

Mr Al-Hussaini collects independent outcomes on all surgical procedures he performs.

This includes collecting adverse events, complications, readmissions, infections etc. Mr Al-Hussaini uses these outcome measures to ensure the best care for patients and also to monitor and check his own surgical practice.

Mr Al-Hussaini has published extensively. This includes research papers, national and international guidelines for the assessment and treatment of ENT problems, teaching articles and an ENT iBook for medical students and junior doctors (available for free from the iTunes Store).

Please find a small selection of recently published articles listed below. He has also presented over 100 papers nationally and internationally, as well as 3 international keynote lectures.

Pirotte E, Holzhauser S, Owens D, Quine S, Al-Hussaini A, Christian A et al. (2018) Sensitivity to inhibition of DNA repair by Olaparib in novel oropharyngeal cancer cell lines infected with Human Papillomavirus. PLoS One 13(12): e0207934.

Yap D, Goddard S, Ng M, Al-Hussaini A, Owens D (2018) An animal tissue simulation assessing three directional displacement forces on five common tracheostomy securing techniques. Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 100(6): 459-463.

de Gabory L, Sowerby L, DelGaudio J, Al-Hussaini A, Hopkins C, Serrano E (2018) International survey and consensus (ICON) on ambulatory surgery in rhinology. European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Diseases 135(1S): S49-S53.

Rees P, Al-Hussaini A, Maguire S (2017) Child abuse and fabricated or induced illness in the ENT setting: a systematic review. Clinical Otolaryngology 42(4): 783-804.

Al-Hussaini A & Tomkinson A (2017) A novel ENT iBook: what to junior doctors think? Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine 40(2): 50-57. 

Kovoor J, Al-Hussaini A, Backhouse S (2016) Identifying the optimal external auditory canal water-occluding earplugs: a scientific simulation study. The Journal of International Advanced Otology 12(3): 266-270.

Al-Hussaini A & Tomkinson A (2016) Exploring medical undergraduates’ perceptions of the educational value of a novel ENT iBook: a qualitative study. Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine 39(1-2): 3-9.

Al-Hussaini A, Walijee H, Owens D (2016) The uptake of day-case septoplasty in England and Wales from 2000-2012; is there a relationship between day-case rates and waiting list times? The Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 98(5):212-215.

Al-Hussaini A, Xu R, Jones A, Owens D, Wei X (2015) Investigating the role of the novel cytokine IL-35 in the regulation of anti-tumour immunity against head and neck cancer. The Journal of Laryngology & Otology (online) DOI:10.1017/S0022215115002819.

Walijee H, Al-Hussaini A, Harris A, Owens D (2015) What Are the Trends in Tonsillectomy Techniques in Wales? A Prospective Observational Study of 19,195 Tonsillectomies over a 10-Year Period. International Journal of Otolaryngology, Volume 2015, Article ID 747403.

Grounds R, Al-Hussaini A, Owens D (2015) Predicting operative duration and implications for list planning: a retrospective analysis of data from 85 adults and 72 children undergoing tonsillectomy. Clinical Otolaryngology 40(5):483-486.

Al-Hussaini A & Tomkinson A (2015) Basic ENT Examinations for Medical Students. Apple iBook (available on iTunes store).

Xu R, Sun H, Williams H, Jones AV, Al-Hussaini A, Song B et al. (2015) IL-34 suppresses Candida albicans-induced TNF-α production in M1 macrophage by down-regulating expression of Dectin-1 and TLR2. Journal of Immunology Research, Article ID 328146.

Al-Hussaini A,  Xu R,  Jones A,  Owens D, Wei X (2015) Investigating the role of the novel cytokine IL-35 in the regulation of anti-tumour immunity against head and neck cancer. Oral Oncology Head & Neck Oncology 51(5):e44-45.

Al-Hussaini A & Berry S (2015) An evidence-based approach to the management of snoring in adults. Clinical Otolaryngology 40(2):79-85.

Alnabelsi T, Al-Hussaini A, Owens D (2015) Comparison of traditional face-to-face teaching with synchronous e-learning in otolaryngology emergencies teaching to medical undergraduates: a randomised controlled trial. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck 272(3):759-763.

Al-Hussaini A, Walijee H, Khan A, Cuddihy P (2015) Day-case septoplasty: a default pathway or is case selection the key? European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck 272(1):91-95.

Al-Hussaini A, Latif F, Berry S (2014) Ear pain, vesicular rash and facial palsy. British Medical Journal 349:g7572

Stew BT, Al-Hussaini A, Berry S (2014) Shoulder morbidity following spinal accessory nerve preserving neck dissection. The Otorhinolaryngologist 7(3):179-182.
Al-Hussaini A (2014) Evaluating the educational value of an undergraduate otolaryngology ibook. MSc Dissertation, Cardiff University.

Stew B, Al-Hussaini A, Clarke J (2014) RE: An analysis of emerging antimicrobial resistance in an ENT outpatient department: a comparison of three hundred and forty-nine swabs taken in 2007 with five hundred and seventy-four swabs in 2012. Clinical Otolaryngology 39(4):258

Al-Hussaini A, Latif EH, Singh V (2014) Response to Puvanendran et al. Clinical Otolaryngology 39(1):68.

Carey M, Al-Hussaini A, Sanu A, Owens D (2014) Head and Neck surgical patients; is it time for a bridle era? European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck 271(5):1321-1325. 

Al-Hussaini A, Owens D, Tomkinson A (2014) Does temperature effect tympanometric evaluation of ear canal volume? A scientific study using an Ear Canal Model. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck 271(1):75-80.

Al-Hussaini A, Latif EH, Singh V (2013) 12-minute consultation: an evidence-based approach to the management of dysphagia. Clinical Otolaryngology 38(3):237-243.

Stew B, Al-Hussaini A, Wall J, Berry S (2013) Qualitative review of satisfaction with a head and neck clinic. Cancer Nursing Practice 12(4): 23-29.

Al-Hussaini A, Owens D, Tomkinson A (2013) Health costs and consequences: have UK national guidelines had any effect on tonsillectomy rates and hospital admissions for tonsillitis? European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck 270(6):1959-1965.

Al-Hussaini A, Owens D, Tomkinson A (2012) Have two UK national guidelines had any effect on grommets day-case utilisation and rate over the last 10 years? European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck 269(9):2053-2056.
Manisty CH, Al-Hussaini A, Unsworth B et al (2012) The acute effects of changes to AV delay on BP and stroke volume: potential implications for the design of pacemaker optimization protocols. Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology 5(1):122-130. 

Al-Hussaini A, Addams-Williams J, Tomkinson A (2011) The Cardiff Cup: A Model for Tonsillectomy Tie Training. Otolaryngology 1:102. 

Al-Hussaini A, Owens D, Tomkinson A (2011) Assessing the accuracy of tympanometric evaluation of external auditory canal volume: a scientific study using an ear canal model. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck 268(12):1721-1725. 

Al-Hussaini A, Baksi AJ, Hadjiloizou Net al (2009) How does wave intensity change with heart rate? Insight from carotid study during pacing. Hypertension 54:1171.

Manisty CH, Al-Hussaini A, Unsworth B et al (2008) The acute haemodynamic effects of changes in atrioventricular delay: is the initial increment in stroke volume maintained? ECHO: The Journal of the British Society of Echocardiography 64:14.

Baruah R, Manisty CH, Al-Hussaini A et al (2008) Accounting for the biphasic change in blood pressure that occurs following cardiac pacemaker optimisation. Hypertension 52:763.